REPUBLIC

OF CYPRUSMARIA EVANGELOU

PRESIDENT

CYPRUS NURSING AND MIDWIFERY COUNCIL

THE EVOLUTION OF THE

NURSING AND

MIDWIFERY LAWS OF THE

REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS

BEFORE THE REPUBLIC 1960

• 1571 until 1878 Cyprus was under Turkish

Occupation

• 1878 until 1960 Cyprus was under British rule

following the Cyprus Convention of 4/6/1878

which was a secret agreement reached between

the Ottoman Empire and the United Kingdom

whereby Britain would protect the Sultan’s Asian

territories from the threat of Russia.

Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India, the Right HonourableAusten Henry Layard, Her Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Sublime Porte; And His Imperial Majesty the Sultan, his Excellency Safvet Pasha, Minister for Foreign Affairs of His Imperial Majesty; Who, after having exchanged their full powers, found in due and good form, have agreed upon the following Articles:

Occupation and Administration of Cyprus by Great Britain.

And in order to enable England to make necessary provision for executing her engagement, His Imperial Majesty the Sultan further consents to assign the Island of Cyprus to be occupied and administered by England.

CONVENTION of Defensive Alliance between Great Britain and

Turkey, with respect to the Asiatic Provinces of Turkey. Signed

at Constantinople, 4 June, 1878.

NO STRUCTURED

HEALTH SYSTEM

EXISTED PRIOR TO

BRITISH RULE IN 1878

THE MEDICAL REGISTRATION

LAW OF 1917

The Cyprus Gazette 1917

• A bill t o provide for the registration of m e d i c a l practitioners.

• b e it enacted by his Excellency the High Commissioner and Commander-in-chief of the island of Cyprus, with the advice and consent of the legislative council thereof, as follows :— 1. this law may be cited as the medical registration short title. law, 1917. 2 . in t h i s l aw : interpretation. Register means the medical register to be kept under this law. " practitioner " means a person whose name is on the register. 3. the words " legally qualified medical practitioner," 2jjai or " licensed medical practitioner," or any words import- practitioner ing a person recognized by law as a medical practitioner *- or member of the medical profession, when used in any law of the island, shall be construed to mean a person registered under this law. 4.—(1) there shall be hereby constituted a body of medical persons, hereinafter referred to as the medical assessors, * whose duties shall be to decide upon applications of persons desiring to have their names placed upon the register

The first law introduced in

Cyprus was The Midwifery

Law which was approved in

1932 and there was an

amendment in 1936

REGISTRATION OF A MIDWIFE

AMENDMENT OF 1932 LAW

HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS IN

CYPRUS - EARLY 1900’s

NURSING IN CYPRUS - EARLY

1900’s

The Nursing and Midwifery

Laws of 1951

On 11th January 1951 this Law was replaced

by the Nursing and Midwifery Law of 1951

which categorised nurses as follows –

– general nursing,

– mental nursing,

– tuberculosis nursing,

– nursing as a Cyprus Registered Nurse,

– nursing as a student nurse

THE NURSING AND MIDWIFERY LAW

1951

The Law of 1951 and the Council

The Nursing and Midwifery Council by the law consisted

of………..

• The Director of Medical Services (double vote)

• Two Medical Practitioners of the Public Service

• Two Medical Practitioners of the Private Service

• Two Registered Nurses one of whom was the Senior

Matron in the Government Nursing Service

• Two Registered Midwives, one of whom was of the

public service

FIVE DOCTORS – TWO NURSES – TWO MIDWIVES

APPOINTED BY THE GOVERNOR FOR A 3 YEAR

PERIOD

1951 WHO WAS LEGIBLE TO

PRACTICE NURSING OR MIDWIFERY

• Registered nurse or midwife

• Specially licensed nurse (person practicing

nursing for over a three year period)

• A Medical Practitioner

• Cyprus Registered Nurses had to be supervised

by General Nurses who had been registered by

the General Nursing Council of England, Wales or

Scotland

• Registration had a fee of 50 mils

Person practicing contrary to the law

were:

• Guilty of an offence

• Liable to imprisonment for

maximum of 3 months

• Fine of maximum 25 pounds

• Imprisonment and fine

1960 ZURICH – LONDON TREATY

CYPRUS GAINS INDEPENDENCE ON

16/8/1960

• THE NURSING AND MIDWIFERY LAW OF 1951

WAS AMENDED ON 24/5/1962 removing

remnants of British Rule such as references to

“the Governor”

• The law now printed in the Greek Language.

1962 LAW

The Nursing and Midwifery Council

consisted of :

– An Administrative Officer of M.O.H

– Chief Medical Officer

– Medical Officer recommended by M.O.H

– Senior Matron

– Two qualified Nurses or Midwives in the public

services

– Two qualified Nurses or Midwives in the private

services

1 Administrator, 2 Doctors, 5 Nurses/Midwives

A NURSE REGISTERED IN 1970

A MIDWIFE REGISTERED IN 1971

1974

14 August 1974 - Turkey invaded and seized 36.2

percent of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus

and it maintains an illegal military occupation in

the northern areas of the island to this day.

In 1975 the Nursing School gained autonomy

graduates of our Nursing School are no longer

required to be examined at the British Bases to

obtain registration. They applied directly to the

UK

1975 CYPRUS HONOURS NURSING

WITH A STAMP

NURSES IN CYPRUS LATE 1970s

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT

LANDMARKS IN THE EVOLUTION OF

THE LAW WAS:

THE ANNULMENT OF THE

1962 LAW AND ENACTMENT

OF THE NURSING AND

MIDWIFERY LAW OF 1988

27

NURSING AND MIDWIFERY LAWS

AND AMENDMENTS

The Nursing and Midwifery Law N. 214 of 1988

131 of 1991

154(Ι) of 2003

217(Ι) of 2004

249(Ι) of 2004

30(Ι) of 2006

43(Ι) of 2009

122(Ι) of 2011

1(Ι) of 2012

1988……..

• FINALLY ….AFTER 56 YEARS THE COUNCIL

WAS MADE OF NURSES / MIDWIVES :

• 5 REGISTERED NURSES (First Level) appointed

by the Ministry of Health to ensure

• representation from all fields of the profession :

one member from nursing education, one General

Nurse, one Mental Health Nurse, one Midwife and

one Health Visitor

• Plus 4 nurses voted in the elections of the Cyprus

Nurses Association which later became the

Cyprus Nurses and Midwives Association

1988…..

• The Registrar…..was “a person” appointed by the

Ministerial Council and who maintained the

following Registers:

– Register of First Level General and Mental Health

Nurses

– Register of Second Level General and Mental Health

Nurses

– Register of Midwives

– Registered of Licensed Assistants of Private Clinics

– Register of Practical Nurses who were still practicing

at the time of the enactment of this law

1988……

• Register was printed in the Official Newspaper of

the Republic of Cyprus every January

• The Council had disciplinary responsibilities

• The Cyprus Nurses Association was established

(Later to become The Cyprus Nurses and Midwives

Association)

Amendment of 2003

The Republic of Cyprus acceded to the European

Union on 1/5/2004. The Amendment of 2003 was

intended for the harmonisation of the law with all

relative EU directives

FINALLY in 2003, after 71 years from the first Law,

the Registrar is defined in the Law as …..the

NURSE appointed by the Ministerial Council.

AMENDMENT OF 2003

• REGISTERS :

– REGISTER OF NURSES – GENERAL

- MENTAL HEALTH

– REGISTER OF MIDWIVES

THE REGISTER FOR SECOND LEVEL NURSES

WAS CLOSED.

EU CITIZENS COULD APPLY FOR

REGISTRATION IN CYPRUS

REGISTRATION OF GENERAL NURSES FROM EU

MEMBER STATES FROM 2003 TO 2009

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

REGISTRATIONS IN 2011

OTHER M.S – U.K, BULGARIA, ROMANIA, CZECH R, LATVIA

214

104

18

CYPRUS GREECE

OTHER M.S

SUMMARY OF REGISTRATIONS

FROM EU MS FROM 2003 - 2011

20

40

86

70

46

95

69

97

123

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

2009 LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS

• In the amendment of 2009,

Article 10 of the Law stated

that in order to practice nursing

or midwifery in Cyprus an

ELEMENTARY knowledge of

the Greek Language is

required.

AMENDMENT OF 2011

• FOR THE CYPRUS NURSES AND

MIDWIVES ASSOCIATION

– Increased number of members of

Administrative Council

– Increased duration of term

– Added duties of the association

– Voting system changed

– Introduction of emblem etc

CYPRUS NURSES AND MIDWIVES

ASSOCIATION OFFICIAL EMBLEM

NEXT GREAT LANDMARK 2012

• THE AMENDMENT OF 2012

• INCREASED MEMBERS OF COUNCIL FROM

NINE TO 11 :

Appointed members : 4 Registered Nurses - one from

nursing education, one general nurse, one mental

health nurse, one health visitor and one midwife

Elected members : 4 Registered General Nurses, one

Midwife and one Mental Health Nurse

Duration increased to four year period

The Amendment of 2012

• Introduces a License to Practice which has to be

renewed every four years, promoting CPD

• Renewal requires 32 hours or 20 credits of theory

plus 25 days per year of professional practice

• Introduces procedure for Registration, Provision

and Renewal of License to Practice

• Introduces Codes of Practice for both Nursing

and Midwifery

• Introduces fees and establishment of treasury

prior to this the Council had no income

The Amendment of 2012

• Extends the duties of the Council e.g.

cooperation with CY.N.M.A for issues

relating to CPD

• Introduces separate Disciplinary Council

consisting of FIVE members 3 Nurses, 1

Midwife and 1 Mental Health Nurse

MY REGISTRATION

License to Practice

A CURRENT CERTIFICATE OF

REGISTRATION

UNOFFICIAL STAMP OF CYPRUS NMC

FEATURING GREEK GODDESS HYGEIA

FEES

FEES (€ )

(Ι) Application for registration in the

Nursing / Midwifery Register

Thirty Five Euros

(€35,οο)

(ΙΙ) Application for re-examination

of application for registration in the

Nursing / Midwifery Register

Thirty Five Euros

(€35,οο)

(ΙΙΙ) Issue of a registration

certificate and License to Practice

the profession

Thirty Five Euros

(€35,οο)

(IV) Renewal of License to

Practice the profession

Ten Euros (€ 10,00) for every

Year of renewal

(V) Application for the re-issue of a

lost certificate

Forty Euros

(€ 40,00)

(VI) Fees for the issue of a

certificate of Current Professional

Practice

Forty Euros

(€ 40,00)

48

MANY THANKS

ENJOY YOUR STAY ON OUR BEAUTIFUL

ISLAND